Air Force as Show Business and Special-Interest Politics

At the end of WW II a task force was assembled to study the role of the Air Force in winning the war.  John Kenneth Galbraith was a member of the team.  It concluded that the Air Force was of limited impact and that it was the infantry that had to do the work.  “Attempts at daylight precision bombing in World War II proved ineffective.  The bombers suffered heavy losses, and the enemy had to be defeated the old-fashion way with massive armies slogging across Europe….” The same battle is going on again.  The Air Force wants new, big and super-fast fighters that cost $1.5 trillion each.  Yet, it was the cheaper, slower and more maneuverable A-10 that provided air support to our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Probably, the speedier fighters account for many of the civilian casualties that the Afghans complain about.  Fast planes and drones lack the necessary field of vision to distinguish friend from foe.  The Air Force is determined to eliminate the A-10.  Harper's reports that “Legislators with A-10 bases in their districts who might ordinarily attempt to save those jobs, were offered special inducements by the Air Force.  Thus Michigan’s Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate’s Armed Services committee, has been guaranteed a squadron of aerial tanker planes that will provide substitute employment.”
    The military-industrial complex is fleecing us again. I wish Levin had asked for high-speed rail lines rather that jets.

Source: Andrew Cockburn, “Tunnel  Vision,” Harper’s, February 2014.

What Hapened to Democracy

Obama's nominee for the Appeals Court blocked by Republican filibuster, the third in two weeks.  Why do we allow this anti-democratic rule by a long-winded minority?

A poll shows that a majority of Americans believe that global warming is  happening and that humans are the problem.  Will that prevent a minority of no-nothings represented by a majority of House members from blocking action?  NO.  Jerry-rigged House districts rule.

Democracy Shutdown

So you think you live in a democracy of majority rule.  Wrong!  You are ruled by a radical minority of ideologues who not interested in consequences.  The NYT and NPR estimate that if the Senate bill were brought to the floor of the House, it would pass with a combination of Republican and Democratic votes.  But the leadership fears for their jobs and will not bring it to a vote.

Omnipotent Secret Medelsome America

On the 60th anniversary of the 1953 military coup in Iran that overthrew the democratically elected government of radical nationalist Mohammad Mossadegh, the US has declassified documents detailing how the CIA’s secret operation brought the country’s Shah back to power.  Mossadegh had the temerity to nationalize Iranian oil.
This episode is relevant to today's clamor over individuals spilling of government secret documents.

Spy who came in from the cold

John LeCarre comparing today's undercover operations with those when he wrote his famous spy novel:
"Today, the same man, with better teeth and hair and a much smarter suit, can be heard explaining away the catastrophic  illegal war in Iraq , or justifying medieval torture techniques as the preferred means of interrogation in the twenty-first century, or defending the inalienable right of closet psychopaths to bear semiautomatic weapons, and the use of unmanned drones as-a risk-free method of assassinating one's perceived enemies and anybody who has the bad luck to be standing near them. Or, as a loyal servant of his corporation, assuring us that smoking is harmless to the health of the Third World, and great banks are there to serve the public."
      We have not learned a thing!  LeCarre asks, "How far can we go in the rightful defense of our Western values without abandoning them along the way?

Campaign Spending

Obama had a 245 million dollar fund to spend on his political campaign. The amount spent on campaigns is obscene, what a waste. Even worse, it is pollution of our environment filling the airwaves with noise.
These early presidential primaries are a farce. Why should trends be established by out-of-the way places? We should have a national one day primary in August where real votes are cast. The candidates would have to appeal to the whole nation and not tailor their platform to the whims of individual states one by one. We say we are one nation undivided, but it is a lie.

Arab Democracy

Sometimes other writers capture my thoughts so well I can only quote them.
"When one looks across the Arab world today at the stunning spontaneous democracy uprisings, it is impossible to not ask: What are we doing spending $110 billion this year supporting corrupt and unpopular regimes in Afghanistan and Pakistan that are almost identical to the governments we’re applauding the Arab people for overthrowing?" Thomas Friedman, New York Times, 6 March 2011.